


The soundtrack of our lives

by Kirara_MagicalGirl



Category: The Umbrella Academy (Comics), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Band Break Up, Diego Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Diego Hargreeves is Bad at Feelings, F/M, Mentioned Number Five | The Boy, POV Diego Hargreeves, POV Vanya Hargreeves, Pre-Band, The Kraken - Freeform, The White Violin - Freeform, Vanya Hargreeves Deserves Better, Vanya Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Vanya Hargreeves-centric, WhiteKraken
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:27:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25868917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kirara_MagicalGirl/pseuds/Kirara_MagicalGirl
Summary: Because in another life and another time Vanya shouldn't have run away from home alone, and Diego shouldn't have felt betrayed by that damn book that only added more pain to the scars they both hid.The story of how Diego followed Vanya to a punk-rock club and realized that maybe he had more in common with Number Seven than he thought.Or the story of how there is a song that continues to haunt Diego for allowing a mission to come between that last concert that never made Prime 8's
Relationships: Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves & Grace Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves/Vanya Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Vanya Hargreeves
Comments: 6
Kudos: 71





	1. The beginning of our song

**Author's Note:**

> This little three-shot originally started in my head as a one-shot but I realized it had the potential to be something more. I apologize in advance for any mistakes because English is not my first language, so maybe some things are misspelled or meaningless, but I love so much the relationship that Vanya and Diego have in comics and I would like to explore better what it was like for them to have their band, and how it helped them come together.
> 
> The fic has little details mixed in from the series and the comic.

I have a tale to tell  
About a girl whose soul was screwed  
She was born into a life with everything to lose  
Her father sold her to the trade when she was just a child  
She was seventeen and never ever learned to smile  
-The Pretty Reckless (Where did Jesus go?)

POV. Vanya

Usually, the sound of the clock during dinner was the only thing that seemed to help keep me sane after the many hours of silence and solitude to which I was subjected while my siblings trained, but just tonight I can feel like time is making fun of me by moving slower than usual. 

The waiting is killing me, by this point I can't help but think about how number Five would try to convince dad that he finally managed to succeed in to figure out the exact equation for time travel, is hard for me to think about how sudden he just went away and never look back, he was my best friend and on nights like this, I miss him more than I want to admit.

Perhaps with him by my side, I wouldn’t be so scared about to get away tonight so I can see a band that will be playing for the last night in town before they go on tour, maybe I get too carried away by my thoughts or maybe I just want to entertain myself before our father allows us to withdraw but sometimes I can feel Diego’s gaze over me, somehow makes me feel vulnerable and anxious, like he's about to find out what I'm planning.

I tell myself that that is ridiculous because the only good thing about being the ordinary number seven is that it doesn't matter what I do, my father and siblings have other things to worry about. When my father finally allows us to leave the table, it seems that my heart wants to get out of my chest. Just a few minutes more and I will be able to pretend for a few seconds that I have a life outside the Academy.

Once that all the lights have gone out I take a moments before everything gets quiet and I can start my way to the kitchen so that once I leave the sandwich for Five so that nobody suspects I can leave through the back door, so I can jump the gate without fear of being discovered by the cameras that my father considers as an advantage, in case if someone tries to break into the Umbrella Academy, but I believe that is just another of his attempts to control our lives.

I keep turning from time to time, until I find myself halfway to Griddy's, luckily for me the bar I was going to was not far from Griddy's and it wasn't that close to the Academy either, so I wouldn't have to take care of my back for a very long stretch. Part of me did not stop feeling somewhat guilty for not having brought Klaus with me, since Ben's death he increased his drug use perhaps in the hope of silencing the pain or maybe because deep down he was as lonely as I was without Five, but I decided to dismiss those thoughts in the back of my mind because I had finally reached the bar and I doubt that Klaus appreciated this place as much as I did, since his tastes were more similar to Allison's, while I felt that I could drown surrounded by many people.

Inside the bar, I felt in another world, the girls around me were beautiful in such a strange way that it intimidated you at the same time that it made you not be able to stop looking. They all looked so wild and fierce in a way that Reginald would surely disapprove, as they didn't seem like the perfect prototype soldier like Luther and they certainly weren't the perfect girl style like Allison.  
Part of me was grateful that I no longer had to wear that school-type skirt and another part of me felt a little out of place, I drank some of my beer and began to fiddle with the bottle until the first chords of the song began to sound. Somehow I forgot my plan to stay hidden in a corner and try to get as close to the stage as possible to see better, I have never felt so awake in all my life.


	2. The stage is ours tonight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally, we have Diego's point of view on this story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I was having a problem with the fact that I tend to procrastinate so some works of the University caused me anxiety and a terrible writer block but finally, I was able to finish this chapter, forget me if Diego has a kind of OC's we have such a difficult personality which is one of the reasons because I adore him.  
> I hope you enjoy this

She needed an angel to love  
And no one sent her an angel  
She needed an angel to love her  
But no one sent her an angel  
-Pretty Reckless (Where did Jesus go?)

POV. Diego

Stupid personal train day, Stupid Luther and his fucking perfect soldier complex, Stupid Allison and her devotion to Luther but most important of all stupid Reginald, perhaps we screw it up when Ben dies, perhaps Klaus never is going to be the stronger person in the whole room, but I can’t stand having another day like this.

The ache of my back was half of bad that yesterday so maybe with a bit of luck I could have a peaceful night before tomorrow’s mandatory torture, as long as I reached the door to my room I started to realize that the hallway was awfully quiet, usually by this point Vanya’s violin music would flood the entire house until it was time for dinner and Reginald forced her to meet with everyone.

Or at least that appears to me, perhaps it’s just me the one that has trouble being close to Vanya for what I know, somedays Vanya would go to Klaus' room after his private "training" and spend the rest of the night talking and sometimes Vanya would convince him to go to the kitchen to prepare a sandwich for Five while she and Klaus wait for him on the living room where they'll just sit quietly and hug each other looking at that painting that Reginald insisted should be visible to everyone, other days she just would try in vain to have a conversation with Allison, on the other hand, she just avoids Luther after giving him a short greeting in the mornings and evenings, Vanya's routine never changed, so the quietness of the hall was unusual.

What could possibly be so important that would distract her from her daily violin practice, she didn't have to train so hard, she was ordinary, she should have a life, she... she should damn well trust that they would keep her safe, he would always save her, she just had to be doing the only thing that brought some strange form of joy to that huge Academy that looked more like a kind of military prison.

For some strange reason, Reginald decided to give us some time to relax after training, so at least I could get some rest after a well-deserved shower, although I couldn't sleep much with Klaus in the room next door. Between the hours I spent looking at the ceiling and the lack of signs of life Vanya was giving I was about to go crazy, not even throwing my knives could distract me, right at the moment we were meeting for dinner I noticed two things, the first was that Vanya's knuckles were turning his already white skin in a spectral tone due to the force he was doing and the second was that he had a more lost look than Klaus after mixing whatever crap he was messing with the cheapest alcohol he could find.

Once seated at the table it was impossible to believe that everything was normal, Vanya who always seemed to want to make sure she was the last one to finish her dinner looked completely nervous and seemed more interested in biting her lower lip than in actually trying to eat something. I could tell that she was purposely cutting up his food to make it look like she had eaten something. After the uncomfortable dinner with Reginald, Vanya seems to want to disappear because of the speed with which she runs through the corridors to get to her room and lock herself up. I was ready to end all this nonsense immediately, whatever was upsetting her I could deal with it.

Or at least I thought so until, in the midst of all the babbling Klaus was doing trying to pretend that we have a conversation and I was really listening to him, he came up with the worst line he could think of while squeezing my shoulders he only let out in laughter:

-Wow, Vanya's really faster than I thought, maybe in the future Vanya will run away this fast so he can sneak out at night to see his boyfriend outside the academy, don't you think, D?

After close my door in front of Klaus's face, I have a shitty time trying to find a comfortable position to sleep, I totally blame to Reginald for that, I mean if Vanya wants some stupid random guy who doesn’t deserve her is going to be her problem, plus is almost impossible that she sneaks out the house and have the time to meet someone without to give up her violin lessons. 

When I finally gave up on the idea that I was not going to rest that night I decided to go down to the kitchen in the hope that mother had left something that I could take to my room, I was surprised to see Vanya leave the house so late at night, I felt my blood boiling and my head spinning between Klaus' nonsense and the idea that something could happen to little Vanya. If Five disappeared and never came back, it was less likely that she would come back alone, so I simply followed my instincts and followed her without her noticing, although I have to admit that I was proud of the fact that while she was walking she kept her eyes open

I can't believe Vanya chose Griddy's as a place to date his boyfriend, or at least it seemed that way because of the direction he was taking, of all the places where she could probably date some guy had to choose just our place...I mean the Academy place or at least those were the words that I tell to myself in order to be trying to convince me, although it didn't sound as good as calling it ours. When I realized that Vanya wasn't heading for Griddy's everything just started to get weirder than I imagined, Vanya was out of tune in the crowd, but at the same time, he looked like he could belong there. I wanted to believe this would be my perfect opportunity to get Vanya out of here when I started hearing a guitar, by this point I can start to understand why Vanya is here tonight. 

The music was good and certainly was the kind of music that would make Reginald turn red as long as he gave us some kind of sermon about the importance of maintaining the perfect image of The Umbrella Academy, but nothing matters at this point, this moment was just me, the music and Vanya.

I just need the courage to make my way in the middle of the crowd to get to her.


	3. Anywhere but here

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has a major inspiration in the novel Anywhere but here...I really hope you like this as much as I enjoy experimenting writing this.

What's the point of screaming out if no one gives a damn?  
What's the point of reaching out if no one lends a hand?  
She had passed the point where there was nothing left to give  
She was seventeen and never ever learned to live  
-Pretty Reckless (Where did Jesus go?)

POV. Diego  
As I struggled to get close to Vanya who was losing in the crowd I could feel my heart beating getting louder and my ears were ringing, from all the places I felt ready to follow Vanya this was definitely not one of them, among my options I was when we ran away to Griddy's to celebrate our birthdays, although, on the other hand, another option for which she would risk to be reprimanded by Reginald and Pogo's look of disappointment was probably to see The Phantom of the Opera, or perhaps even in the most extreme case that she did not gain her nervousness would be to audition for some orchestra, although of course by her personality, she would never seek to be a soloist or at least not without motivation I would surely seek to enter only by the fact that I could play in front of someone; the situation was real and completely fucked up. I was the person who knew Vanya the most throughout the damn academy and yet when I saw her looking out the stage with adoration I realized that it didn't matter right now, in the end, it seemed like I didn't know her. 

Perhaps I was the only one who notices that she frowns every time she reads something that doesn’t understand, I can tell for sure that her favorite book is any in which the main character run as far as it can from home and never look back, also she was the one that after Five's disappearance and Ben's death, decided to dedicate herself to taking care of Klaus, she's also the only one who shows some interest in helping Mom in any of the chores she does and whenever we're hurt, she's the one who hums for hours until Reginald arrives and takes her out of the room, never expect Vanya to be the first to rebel only to come and see any guy who's in a rock/punk band who no matter how good it doesn't justify the fact that Vanya exposed herself too much and might not have gone back to the Academy, I couldn't lose her.

Suddenly the idea that I would lose her forever started to become more real in front of my eyes when a guy with the same damn smirk that Five used to have, couldn't hear anything they were saying from where he was, once I got close enough to Vanya I could feel him shaking at the sound of my voice. 

-Come with me Vanya, we are leaving now

I couldn't concentrate on whatever that idiot was going to protest when I grabbed Vanya's wrist and she started trying to hit me in an attempt to get me to let go, even if Vanya wasn't trained like we are I have to admit that it was interesting that even though he was aware of his disadvantage he decided to fight so much, he was going to continue the way he came back to her when for the first time I heard Vanya scream at the top of his lungs:

-Let me go, I don't need your damn help. I was perfectly fine before you.

POV. Vanya 

It was a new experience to feel this alive, I felt like I could hear any sound no farthest, it seemed that I could play the sound that was around me, it was like being trapped in many sensations at once, but it wasn't completely bad, I finally saw someone sorry for so many things in such a passionate way, I didn't regret anything right now. It seemed that I had found a place where I belonged. I didn't need superpowers, seeing the girl who was on stage next to the singer I asked myself what I could do so that my father would allow me to learn guitar. For the first time, it was clear to me that I wanted for myself, not to get a compliment that would obviously lack merit, maybe this time I wouldn't need to scream just to realize that I was being ignored.

This could be a way for me to show that I was special in a way of my own when the song ended I started to walk away from the stage as discreetly as I could until a stranger approached before the guy could do anything more than ask me if I came alone I felt like I was thrown a bucket of cold water to wake me up when I heard Diego's voice so close.

My head was spinning a thousand times and the air smelling of cigarettes filled my lungs more and more and I felt suffocated, as I arrived at the door I felt more and more anxious so I started to fight to free myself, however, I must have been one of the biggest idiots in the world right now so when I saw that I would not achieve anything by force I dared for the first time to scream even though I knew that probably Diego wouldn't give a damn:

-Let me go, I don't need your damn help. I was perfectly fine before you.

The moment I felt him finally let go I decided that for the first time he was listening to me it was time to let him know everything I was holding back. So I took a deep breath before I got any closer so that he could hear me:

-If you want to go save someone so badly, look for someone who's dying to be saved by you. I’m going to stay where I belong and either you can just stay a few more hours with me inside or you can go alone to the Academy.

I was so angry that I didn't even notice at what point I started getting so close to Diego, there were only a few inches between us and I could swear I could feel the air Diego was breathing, my heart started racing almost as much as when I was listening to the song, so I simply decided that since Diego was doing nothing I would be the one to decide for both of us, so I intertwined my hand with Diego's and we went back to listen to a few songs before returning.

Once I was in my room I couldn't help but notice how stifling it was to be in my room and not only because I was so small but also because I was so far away from everyone, I couldn't help but keep thinking about how good it felt to be so close to Diego, as I held his hand I could feel it fit perfectly into mine. The following days were so normal and suddenly I felt as if that time I escaped had never happened until one day when father had to leave to attend some business and left Pogo in charge, Diego came to me and took me to his room to listen to AC/DC with him. After that, a few days after our birthday, Diego and I started to get closer. It was not the same as being with Klaus, unlike Klaus, we had more in common than that melancholy for our lost childhood best friends. With Diego it was to have that assurance that even if the world was against us we had each other to heal our wounds, I finally stopped waiting for a miracle and started to defend myself, After getting a guitar I devoted the hours in which the boys had missions to be able to perfect, besides that there were weekends in which I had to hide in order to be with Diego in the free hours to teach him to play the bass as promised.

Suddenly I had something that was entirely me and that Reginald couldn’t take from me no matter how coldly he treated me or how much he insisted on increasing Diego’s training hours so that he couldn’t rehearse. Although in the end, it seemed that Diego always managed to end up at my side.

3 years later

Being in this fucking office froze my blood the worst way and gave me a feeling of emptiness in my stomach, I never believed that my father’s words could go through me as easily as if they were one of Diego’s sharp knives. I’ve never seen so much excitement from my father, but you could feel every muscle tightening as you read the paper.  
-Both of you are the most irresponsible idiots, see the state in which you come home  
I couldn’t avoid biting the inside of my cheek as I listened to their constant chatter about the image of the Umbrella Academy until I heard Diego break the silence and say:  
-You should see how the other guy looks  
I wanted to laugh as soon as I heard Diego speak, I felt so safe with him and Klaus was right. Definitely the newspaper took some good pictures of us which would help us a little with the sales of our records, in the end, it was advertising that I desperately needed. Unfortunately for me, Reginald decides to send me to music Academy to learn classic music, or perhaps that was his last attempt to find a way to introduced me in his perfect life. Once that kicked us out of his office Diego and I ended up in his room. It was strange, I couldn’t help feeling the fear that made me feel my head buzzing, I was barely able to process anything, but between Diego and I there had to be an adult so against all odds I decided to sit in the bed that just two days ago we had shared and I decided to light a cigarette to calm down before talking, It was strange that I could light it at first because I could feel my hands and the rest of my trembling. In order to stop Diego before he starts a fight, I decided to break the ice by saying:  
-Well I guessed I see you at Christmas  
I never expect that an answer for that but apparently Diego always have to do the things his way, he just simply said  
-Screw that  
Perhaps it was just my fear but I was so sick of this so I try to sound unaffected and I said:  
-You heard the old man, he wants me out of here, I'm surprised it took him this long  
After the worst silent, I heard how Diego offers to go with me, I was in shock, one thing was scape and never look back but I can't drag Diego with me at least not now. But I was so stupid and naive so I accept when he told me that he never wants to be a superhero.

Once everything was ready I escaped to go to the last play of Prime 8's and to get away with Diego. After Diego didn’t show up as he promised, my head started creating different scenarios of why he didn’t show up, I didn’t plan on coming home but I needed to see Diego and know he was okay. It seems like the wrong miracle was finally happening to me when on the news I saw the rescue wonderfully executed by the Umbrella Academy I understood that in the end, Diego was already where he belonged and I wasn’t part of it, so I just took the first taxi that stopped and asked to be taken urgently to the airport, when they asked me where I was going so urgently I could only hear how my heart was breaking when I said:  
-Anywhere but here


End file.
